May 21, 2002

LAS VEGAS - UNLV tennis standout Thomas Schneiter will face the 2002 Big West Conference Player of the Year in his first career match at the NCAA Singles Championship on the campus of Texas A&M Wednesday.

Schneiter, a senior from Worb, Switzerland, will take on Carlos Palencia of UC Santa Barbara in first round action. Palencia, ranked 58th, has a record of 22-7 this season while playing in the top spot for the Gauchos.

Schneiter, who became UNLV's first-ever three-time league player of the week this spring, earned an automatic bid into the 64-man field as the second-ranked player in the Rebels' district. Ranked 62nd nationally, the two-time first team All-Mountain West Conference honoree is also currently 22-7 overall, including winning 15 of his last 17 matches.

The winner of that match will take on the winner between UCLA's Tobias Clemens (seeded 9-16) and Wisconsin's Danny Westerman in Thursday's second round. The tournament runs through the weekend with the final set for Monday.

Schneiter is the first UNLV men's player to compete at the event since Asaf Tishler in 1999. Former Rebel Nenad Zivkovic earned a bid to the 2001 tournament but was forced to withdraw ahead of time because of a shoulder injury.

Four other Rebels have competed at the final leg of the Collegiate Grand Slam with some spectacular results. Luke Smith went to two tournaments and, as a senior in 1997, rolled through the field to win the school's first tennis national championship. He then teamed with Tim Blenkiron a few hours later to win the doubles title as well. Overall, UNLV men have a 9-7 record in NCAA singles play.

Joining Schneiter at the event from the MWC are Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State, Gert Vilms of BYU and Divan Coatzee of New Mexico.